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Dorothy Wagner wczoraj skończyła 110 lat.

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Turning 110

Sep 2 2014 by Angelia Roberts, Executive Director of Ad/Ed

Theodore Roosevelt was president. Cy Young was pitching a perfect game. Orville and Wilbur Wright were making headlines. Andrew Carneige donated $1.5 million for a peace palace. The Pope forbade low-cut dresses in the presence of churchmen. The St. Louis police department looked into fingerprints as a new investigation tool. The first New Year’s Eve celebration was held in Times Square.

And, on Sept. 2, 1904 Dorothy Stinson Wagner was born.

Today marks her 110th birthday.

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Wagner has always been independent.

And turning 110 hasn’t changed that one bit.

She is currently a resident at the Horseshoe Bend Nursing and Rehab Center. The first time she stayed was briefly through the winter months. She returned again and is currently staying there even though she still has plans to one day go back home.

Unlike a lot of people who restrict themselves with age, Wagner does not. She was still driving herself to and from functions long after she turned 100. And she exercises every day.

At 103, she changed religious affiliations and was baptized in the Church of Latter Day Saints.  She was the featured speaker at the North Little Rock Arkansas Stake Center for a dinner prior to the broadcast of the 2008 General Relief Society Meeting. Even the Brigham Young University did a documentary. In that interview she told them she doesn’t really care if she remembers dates of events in her life. “I don’t attempt to weigh myself down with them,” said the then-104-year-old.

When Dorothy turned 106, Horseshoe Bend Mayor Bob Barnes presented her with a key to the city.

At 107 she finds a partner who will accommodate her wish to dance to big band music.

Turning 110 hasn’t damped her planning for future events.

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She was born Sept. 2, 1904, at home in Centralia, Illinois, to Edward and Nellie Stinson. Her mother’s farm was near Harrisburg, her father’s in Fairfield. By coincidence, they met up on a farm near Springfield where her mother was a cook and her father worked.

“All the men in the southern part of the state would take the train to the middle of the state and shuck corn. Everybody looked forward to that, and that’s where they made their money,” she recalled.

“Mother was a wonderful cook. I guess that appealed to him, too.”

Her father was a builder and her mother’s calling was an obstetrics nurse, which came in handy because Dorothy spent the first nine years of her life in bed fighting pneumonia.

Ironically, her parents died of pneumonia; her father was 62 and her mother 87. She cared for both of them until they died.

One of her earliest memories was getting out of bed to see Halley’s Comet (that was in 1910). She said all the neighbors lined the streets and that is still etched in her memory. The following day, she said, her aunt took her to town and bought her an ice cream which was named after the comet.

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The day she turned 19, she entered special nursing training. The first year the students were paid $5 per month and had striped uniforms.

Dorothy loved nursing, taking care of people and remaining with them until the anesthetic (then ether) wore off.

“The patients would wake up and say, ‘Oh, I thought you were an angel,’” she said.

She graduated in 1927 wearing a dress she made herself. It had a pink satin bodice and a pink chiffon skirt with matching pink pumps.

It was while she was in nursing that she met a woman who  thought Dorothy would be perfect for her brother. “I didn’t realize she was building him up to me.” And, since she didn’t know a soul in Chicago, she got to know Howard Wagner.

But Dorothy recalls she didn’t really want to get married, but looking back she has no regrets.

The couple married in 1928. The Depression hit in ’29, and their first son, Ken, was born in ’30.

Howard was a plumber by trade. Unfortunately, he lost his work permit, so times got rough.

“By that time we had this little son, and he wanted his son to think as much of him as he did of me, and he wanted to take care of him. I like to see a man and son love each other, and they sure did, til the day my husband died. He was crazy about that boy.”

Howard had a great time taking care of his son. He took him everywhere, and they spent a lot of time at a sporting club he belonged to. In fact, that’s where he learned to walk.

Howard was 38 when he went into the U.S. Navy in 1942. He became a Seabee stationed in Trinidad, and returned home in 1946. Eyes twinkling, Dorothy said, “Ted was born exactly nine months later.”

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Between the Depression and the war, the demand for private nurses was nearly non-existent.

Always looking for an opportunity to make ends meet, she realized women would always find money to have their hair done. One woman told her, “If I had the choice of getting my hair done or buy a loaf of bread, I would rather have my hair done.”

So, Dorothy became a beautician.

By the ’60s, she was moving into real estate and connected with agents from Horseshoe Bend who traveled to Illinois to drum up potential property owners. During the growing years, agents often offered travel weekend packages where they would transport potential owners by airplane or by the busloads to the city and give them accommodations, meals, golf packages and other incentives.

She began doing that also, but it wasn’t until 1965 that she and Howard bought their own lots. They built their home in 1968 with her as the designer. The home has wood from an old barn, local rocks and stones, a circular stairway, and shrubs, trees and flowers from her gardens in Illinois.

The marriage to Howard survived 55 years until his death. She later remarried.

Dorothy had many hobbies over the years.

She’s enjoyed bridge and golf, and has shared her love of gardening and other talents as an original member of the Garden Club, Illinois Club and AARP.

The once-avid golfer said she still watches golf on Sunday.

“When people ask me do I have any children, I say, ‘No, but I’ve got a couple of old men.’” Her youngest son doesn’t find that nearly as humorous as she does, she said, laughing.

She attributes her longevity to keeping busy, lots of hard work and a good sense of humor and she values honesty above all things.

The room she now calls home is filled with mementos, photos and news articles depicting all the stages of her life. Close by, she shows off her high heels for dancing and her closet sports new clothing, still with tags, for her next outing or adventure.




Dorothy Wagner

Dorothy Wagner
Dorothy Wagner is pictured her with sons Kenneth, who lives in South Carolina, and Ted, who lives in Washington. (photo by Angelia Roberts)

Dorothy Wagner is pictured her with sons Kenneth, who lives in South Carolina, and Ted, who lives in Washington. (photo by Angelia Roberts)
A young Dorothy in her nurse uniform is pictured with husband Howard and their oldest son, Kenneth. (photo submitted)

A young Dorothy in her nurse uniform is pictured with husband Howard and their oldest son, Kenneth. (photo submitted)

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